In 1980, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan signed the league's first million dollar contract, inking a four-year, $4 million deal with the Houston Astros. People probably thought Houston had lost their mind at the time.
I remember in December of 1998 - or almost two decades ago - the Los Angeles Dodgers made starting pitcher Kevin Brown the first $100 million man when he signed for a then-record $105 million. People probably thought LA was crazy, too.
Now, there is a very large group of players hitting that $100 million mark, and the numbers continue to go up.
On top of that, there have been seven players to sign $200 million contracts starting with Prince Fielder's $214 million and going up to Miguel Cabrera's $292 million, both inked by the Detroit Tigers. By the way, that list includes Alex Rodriguez twice, first signing with the Texas Rangers for $252 million and then re-working the deal with Yankees for $275 million.
In 2016, that number made its way to the $300 million mark with the Miami Marlins' signing of Giancarlo Stanton for 13 years and $325 million. Is that too much money for anyone to make playing a game? Perhaps, but that's another debate for another day.
I mention all of that to say this: Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals will be a free agent at the end of this season and at only 25 years old, he could push that overall number to $400 or maybe even $500 million.
Should the Braves bother getting involved in that?
At first, I said heck no. The production will be there, of course, but that's flat out too much to pay anyone in baseball. However, after thinking about it some more and seeing how salaries are rising at a fast rate anyway, maybe it's not that crazy of an idea.
Harper has been feasting on Atlanta pitching for years. He hits for power and often for average making him one of the most dangerous hitters in the game. He currently leads that Nationals lineup that seems to be headed in the wrong direction.
Harper could be looking to receive the biggest contract in free agent history and would probably be deserving of such a deal with five to seven years of his prime still left.
At only 25 years of age, it isn't a stretch to think his best years could still be ahead of him. Harper has a career .282 average and 163 home runs so far. For such a young age, he's accomplished a lot and now will be looking to put his name in the record books during the off-season.
If you're the Braves, you must make a tough decision to pursue a former division rival. Whether you like him or not - and quite frankly I don't - he is a once-in-a-lifetime player who will be open for business at the end of the season.
Making the move to sign Harper would be a power move for a Braves team that lacks power. He would also join an outfield of Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ender Inciarte, and in my opinion making them the best trio in the game. It would definitely be the best outfield since the days of Jason Heyward and the Upton brothers.
That's three potential all-stars who would make the Braves contenders alone. Add in a young, exciting pitching staff paired with cornerstone first baseman Freddie Freeman, and boom, Harper to Atlanta is a great fit.
It's a known fact Atlanta will have money to spend this next off-season. Whether they are willing to spend on a mammoth contract for Harper is unknown.
Big contracts are rarely worth the gamble, but this case is the exception for a team in need of one more big piece.
A piece, in my opinion, that would take the Braves from 2018 postseason contenders to World Series contenders in 2019.
